Memories should last a lifetime and be passed on to future generations. Advice on how to safeguard precious digital and traditional photos, documents, recordings and more will be presented at Pass It On: Personal Archiving Day at the Library of Congress.
Library staff will discuss practical strategies for preserving personal collections from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday, May 10, in the Mumford Room on the sixth floor of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C. The event is free and open to the public; no tickets or reservations are needed.
The Library’s preservation experts will talk directly with individuals about managing their materials in all formats—everything from e-mail to home movies to digital photographs and recorded sound. For security reasons, visitors are asked not to bring their collection materials to the Library; no appraisals will be provided. For information about visiting the Library, go to www.loc.gov/visit/.
Pass It On: Personal Archiving Day at the Library of Congress celebrates the first national Preservation Week (May 9-15) (external link). It is sponsored by Library of Congress, the American Library Association (ALA), the Institute for Museum and Library Services and partner organizations. This joint initiative highlights libraries and other collecting institutions as good sources of preservation information.
The Library of Congress’ Personal Archiving Day is co-sponsored by the Library’s Office of Strategic Initiatives and Library Services.
"I am eager for the Library to work with the public in this area," said Laura Campbell, assistant librarian for the Office of Strategic Initiatives. "Many individuals have important personal digital information, and we hope this event will provide practical advice about saving it for the future. In addition to meeting with people directly, we are also using the web and social media as a way to reach interested parties."
Deanna Marcum, associate librarian for Library Services, said "Partnering with ALA for the first national collections Preservation Week serves the Library’s mission by sharing information and increasing public awareness of preservation’s importance. The Library of Congress’ Library Services is pleased to collaborate in this effort to reach beyond the staff of our libraries and other cultural heritage collections, and we look forward to its future."
Pass it On: Personal Archiving Day at the Library of Congress
May 10, 2010 from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Schedule of Brief Informal Talks
- 11:00 a.m. Film/Video
- 12:00 p.m. Photos
- 1:00 p.m. Sound Recordings
- 2:00 p.m. Personal Documents
All visitors entering any Library building must pass through a metal detector and have their belongings screened by an x-ray machine. All those exiting any Library building must pass through an electronic theft detection system and open all bags, etc., for inspection.
Twitter Hashtag: #presweek2010
View a gallery of photos from the Event.
Download the Personal Archiving Day Poster (PDF, 219KB)
